Cultivating confident and curious learners

May 2013

Think the skill you’re practicing on IXL is cool? Share it with friends and colleagues! If you’re a parent, teacher, or administrator on IXL, you can now share any skill via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or email. Just hover over the green “Share” tab on the page where you’re practicing and select where you’d like to post the link.

Principal John Fontanetta had been looking for a program that would provide students with individual access to math practice and teachers with data on how well their students were doing. Enter IXL! Students responded well to IXL, not only working on math during designated times at school, but also challenging themselves to practice between class and at home for extra practice.

There’s no doubt that the end of the school year is about celebration, but it’s also about reflecting on the past year, savoring what time is left, and looking forward to the year ahead. We scoured the Web for ideas on how to help bring a meaningful close to the school year with your students. Here are three of our favorites: 1. Get feedback from your students. What better way to reflect on your teaching that to ask your students to share their thoughts? Honest feedback can provide valuable insight into students’ learning experiences and even help you improve your teaching. You can print a simple form for students to fill out, or even create a quick online survey using a service like SurveyMonkey. Edutopia offers more tips on how to format and present your survey.

Last week, we shared creative ideas for making summer math practice fun for kids. Today, we’ll offer a few more hints to make your IXL math initiative a breeze to manage! Here are a few tips to keep in mind when planning and implementing a summer learning initiative: 1. Have a clear mission, whether it’s reviewing past skills to solidify understanding, preventing summer learning loss, getting ahead for next school year, or a combination of these.

We’re all familiar with the traditional classroom model: a teacher stands at the front of the room imparting knowledge while students listen quietly at their desks. We’re also familiar with the reality of the situation; as the lecture progresses, a scan of the room often reveals glazed eyes, unsolicited conversation, and, now more than ever, the surreptitious tapping of fingers across a mobile screen.

Are you looking for ways to make summer learning more fun with IXL? Here are some ideas to get you started! Math Olympics. Get those competitive juices flowing by challenging your mathletes to meet school, class, or individual goals over the summer. They’ll love to see how many medals and awards they can earn on IXL—but you can also throw in your own prizes!

From the bank, to the grocery store, to your kitchen—and even the traveling that gets you from one to the other—math is everywhere! That’s why we include so many skills on IXL that show kids how math fits into everyday life. In fact, we offer over 100 skills on money alone! One of the first things younger students learn is how to identify and count coins. As they progress, they learn to make change, read price lists, calculate tax and tip, determine the better bargain, and much more.

Most parents love to see their children engaged in intellectual activities that interest them, whether it’s reading a historical novel, creating a web page, learning about the physics of space travel, or something else entirely. But some parents take this to a whole new level by forgoing traditional schooling and instead letting their children choose what they learn. This approach is often referred to as “unschooling.” What is unschooling? Unschooling is similar to home schooling in that children learn at home but, rather than being taught by their parents, they essentially teach themselves. There are no subjects, no set curriculum, and children set their own learning goals, which they pursue of their own accord.